This upcoming Labor Day weekend my dad is planning a trip across the Sierra Nevadas into the Mono Lake region. With 152K miles and counting on the old Ody, he is considering renting something since most of the roads out there are pretty far from civilization therefore it would be a PITA if the transmission suddenly decided that third gear isn’t really necessary anymore. In the same vein, there are a lot of locations on that side of the mountains which are accessible only by gravel and dirt roads, so my dad is considering renting an SUV/CUV to make the journey a bit easier than it would be in a van. The only question is, which rental option is the best?